OMAC reports increased OOH spending so far in 2014

The first half of 2014 has brought revenue growth for the members of the Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada (OMAC). Citing Nielsen data, OMAC reports a 5.5% revenue bump compared to the first six months of 2013, while advertising’s overall spend increased only 2.5%.

A release from OMAC also says the share of total media spend going towards OOH media has increased to 7% from 6.8% last year, thanks largely to growth in digital OOH buying.

While Nielsen does not break-out data along digital and traditional media lines, OMAC president Rosanne Caron says she’s heard from her membership that digital has led to “double digit growth across outdoor, indoor and transit.”

“OOH’s strength of quickly building mass awareness can now be leveraged with digital, mobile and social media to increase consumer interaction and create immersive brand experiences,” Caron said, in a release. To bolster her case, she points to data from Warc showing 92% of entries shortlisted in the Cannes Lions’ Creative Effectiveness competition (which allows past Lions winners to enter business case documents to prove campaign effectiveness) included OOH inventory. “Only 58% of the shortlisted campaigns used TV compared to 83% in 2013.”

OMAC said the telecom, financial, media and alcohol sectors have shown the largest spending increases in OOH so far this year.